ORACLE [BNHA fantasy au]

Chapter 1 - Lord

☆

Lord Shoto Todoroki was hopelessly lost.

When he ran away from home a week ago...

He hadn't really thought this far ahead.

Sure, he'd packed rations (beer bread, sharp cheese, hearty fruit, fresh water, and even a bar of dark chocolate he'd snagged from the kitchen) and a map (not the most detailed rendition, but it covered all of The Land of the Rising Sun) and his half-gold, half-silver sword (The Flesh Render, not a name he would've ever chosen)... but he'd kind of thought that his last eighteen years of lordly training would have set him up for totally acing wilderness survival.

Turned out that maybe he should've been paying more attention in class.

Every tree in the unknown forest looked exactly like the last: tall and spindly, with prickly pine needles growing densely at the top, profuse with the scent of decay and rebirth. The springy moss underfoot dampened his footfalls, but it seemed to stick to his boots, gripping him to the forest floor like it never wanted him to leave. Fog snaked between the evergreens like smoke, thick and heavy as yogurt. The birds were silent.

Wherever he was, Lord Shoto hadn't seen the sun in a day.

Exasperated, the young lord ruffled a hand through his two-toned red and white hair and spotted a boulder not far from him that was the perfect perching spot for a lunch break, and made quick work of setting himself up there. The cool, damp surface of the rock steadied him in the ethereal forest, reminding Shoto that no matter how hard the fog tried to play tricks with the refracted sunlight or tease his eyes, that there were real things among the shadows too.

Just as he'd settled in, about to take a bite of slightly-bruised apple, Shoto heard it: the snap of a twig. He stiffened, his eyes widening barely. In his peripheral vision, the darkness shifted against the smoke. Nearly invisible.

Shoto bit down on his apple, the crunch echoing into the empty wood, and stood, dropping to the moss and pine underbrush. His heart punched against the inside of his ribs, loud as war drums in his ears. But whisper-silent, Shoto unsheathed his sword, shuffling across the forest floor in quick, feather-light steps that had the fog swirling around his boots. Steeling himself, he approached where he'd seen the figure, and took a deep breath.

If it was an animal, then it was likely more afraid of him than he was of it. He clung to that reminder.

In one heartbeat, he bit down through his tart apple, swung his sword, and caught the apple before it could hit the forest floor, chewing as he inspected what he'd trapped beneath his blade.

But the last thing he'd expected to find in his snare was his close friend and bodyguard, Tenya Iida, whose cheeks were flushed and hands were held up in surrender, dressed in civilian garb - a thick, cream-colored sweater, gray woolen pants, black boots, and a traveling cloak of cobalt - instead of his usual silver armor.

"S-sire! It's me!" Tenya hissed, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

"Iida?" Shoto gasped, "What- how did you find me?"

Tenya chuckled dryly, eyeing the sword under his chin, and pointed at the blade. "Perhaps you could lower The Flesh Render, sir? Then I'll happily explain."

Rolling his eyes, Shoto sheathed his weapon and jerked his head for Tenya to follow him back to his lunch. "So?" he said, clambering up the rock and settling back into his spot, mind slowly catching up.

"Your father sent me," Tenya explained, avoiding Shoto's sharp, displeased gaze and instead inspecting the suspicious orange moss creeping across the ground. "Said he didn't want you to 'kill, or, worse, accidentally maim' yourself out in the wilderness."

The lord scoffed at his guard's use of air quotes. He could practically hear the words coming from his father's, the Duke's, mouth; it figured that his father wouldn't want Shoto to maim himself any further than his mother already had.

Plus, Tenya didn't lie, and wouldn't lie about something related to the duke. At least, not to Shoto. "Fine. You're here now. Any idea where we are?"

Tenya furrowed his brows and turned to Shoto, who shoved a chunk of bread and a ragged slice of cheese into his mouth. "Depends on where you're headed, my lord. But assuming you're headed for Wildwood, which I imagine you are..." He trailed off, waiting for some kind of response.

Shoto burped and nodded; He'd never been one for manners or politeness... Too many rules to think about.

Shivering at the uncouth behavior from the young lord, Tenya refocused on the task at hand. "Then you're nearly there. If we can catch our bearings in here, then I can get us there no problem, your lordship."

"What do you mean you can get us there?" Shoto said, frowning at his friend, "I could get us there too. What are you trying to say, Tenya?"

A beat of silence passed as Tenya frantically tried to decide what to do. It was common knowledge between, well, everyone that Lord Shoto had a terrible sense of direction. He probably could have cut two days off of his travel time if he'd had any navigational sensibilities at all. And he'd been wandering that meager forest for the last day, trying to make heads or tails of it. It really wasn't that big, smaller than the summer castle grounds, to be sure, and Shoto could get from one end of that to the other in less than an hour if he used the right shortcut or secret passage. Okay, maybe after a day or two of reorienting himself to the place. But he wasn't that hopeless!

"I- I'm sure you could do just fine, my lord," Tenya assured, "I just-"

Shoto stifled a laugh, his stony expression slipping just slightly. "Teasing. I can't find my way out of the pantry without help sometimes. You should probably take the lead from here on out." He held a roughly-sliced, cheese-covered piece of bread out to his friend, and nearly smiled when Tenya accepted it. "Think we can make it to Wildwood by nightfall?"

"Most assuredly, sir," Tenya nodded.

Watching the knight's confident expression carefully, Shoto tried to fix his countenance in the same way. He'd never been the best at emotions, or people either, for that matter... but Tenya was patient with him. Or, at least, more patient than most.

Shoto looked away before Tenya could notice, and sliced them both more cheese and bread. The troublesome thought of why he sought the oracle in the first place jumped to the forefront of his mind once more as they ate in silence for a second, but he ignored the heavy burden with a sigh, and said, "Good. Because I don't know about you... but I could use a bath."

"Agreed, my lord. You stink."

"Wow. Okay, rude."